SimGuruRiley has recently shared a new blog talking about what a day at The Sims Studio looks like for an animator.

WithThe Sims 4 now launched, I thought it would be fun to show you what my typical day is like as a Senior Animator at the Studio!

Early Morning: Arrive at EA

First order of the day is to check email for any issues, concerns or requests, while I am syncing down the latest build of the game. I look over my calendar to see if I have any meetings to review design or implementation plans. If I don’t have any meetings that usually means I will be animating, testing or refining our work in the game.

Mid-Morning: Stand Ups, Reviews and Prepping New Animation

The animation team usually has a quick meeting in the morning. It’s like a roll call. When our name is called out we declare the work that we will be doing that day. A one sentence statement about the overall feature and how much we have completed usually does the trick. As a team it is advantageous for us to understand who is working on what assets. Informal and quick, the meeting rarely lasts longer than 5 to 10 minutes. We return to our stations and continue work. For the next hour our Animation Directors will meet with each of us to review our animation for quality. The team is large and the Directors have split us in half to help focus the review time. We are, affectionately, Red Team and Blue Team. During the review with a Director we will look at the first pass of blocked out animation, shoot reference video, talk about how a feature is going to work in game, receive feedback on animation or discuss technical issues we have.

Lunchtime:

I like to go out with my Animation Pod. I mentor three animators and we try to get off campus and go out to lunch together once a week. Each time it’s a new place – the hardest part is trying to get all four of us to decide where to go.

Today EA/Maxis released a new patch for The Sims 4. Here's a list of the issues Maxis has fixed.

Update: 9/9/14

New decorative object! The High-Rider Gnome has journeyed long from his hidden grotto in the tropics to join you in The Sims 4. He’s eagerly awaiting your arrival in Build Mode, ready to grace your homes with his feats of stationary flamingo bronco busting!

Look for him in Build Mode in the Outdoors or Decorations sorts, or type Gnome in the search box.

Sim and object highlights can now be toggled on/off by entering hovereffects on/off in the cheat console (this will eliminate the white border on a Sim or an object when you hover over it to interact). In addition, you can add -nohovereffects to the Command Line Arguments. In order to add the argument:

Open the Origin client, right click on The Sims 4 game box art, select “View Game Properties”, click “Game Properties”, enter -nohovereffects into the text box, and then click Apply.

Bug Fixes / Issues

Fixed an issue with some gallery downloads that were causing the game to hang.

Fixed several bugs that would result in incorrect relationship states between Sims.

For players using the “cas.fulleditmode” cheat to go back and adjust Sims after they’ve been created, note that using this cheat will still allow you to manually select invalid relationships. Please exercise caution when changing relationships while using this cheat.

The automated filtering used for Gallery uploads was unintentionally blocking the words “gay”, “homosexual”, or “homosapien”. It has now been fixed and these terms will not be blocked or prevented.

Fixed a crash that would result if a block without walls was saved as a room.

The SimGurus have recenlty shared a fun blog post talking about the "Top 10 Things" you will see in The Sims 4.

Be in the know when it releases!

1. Sims with Character

With rich Emotions and quirky personality traits our all new Sims are more expressive than ever. This has a dramatic impact on the choices available to them throughout the game! We’ve said it before but it bears repeating; it’s what’s on the inside that really matters now. Storytelling with The Sims 4 is more powerful, more fun, and more entertaining.

The Sims 4 has officially released in North America today. So did the first patch for The Sims 4. Here's a list of the issues Maxis has fixed.

Severe Issues / Crashes:

·Fixed a crash in Build Mode by preventing the game from thinking fences were rooms.

·Fixed a crash in Create A Sim that could occur after the you lock and unlock your computer.

Bug Fixes / Issues:

·Fixed an issue with “Shine on Men’s Suit”, “Glitter and Abs”, “Big Hat of Shame”, “Star-Spangled Glasses” and the “Tiki Bar”, not remembering their unlocked state upon reload.

·Fixed several issues with Sims attempting to go on dates with the Reaper, resulting in non-responsive game states.The Reaper still loves ya baby, he is just too busy to go on a date with every lovelorn Sim that vies for his attention.

·Fixed several issues where babies were incorrectly hibernating within household inventories resulting in several issues:

·You can now exit Build Mode when not on your home lot if a baby was incorrectly left in the home lot inventory.

·Game no longer hangs if you attempt to split a household with a baby on the lot and in the household inventory.

·Splitting and merging households no longer results in unplayable households due to babies being left in household inventories.

·Babies are no longer left locked in the household inventory if all the other Sims in the household die.

·Babies no longer multiply if left in the Household Inventory while editing the lot via Manage Worlds.

·Fixed an issue where Gallery households that have been merged with another household were preventing Live Mode from loading.

·Adding a new Sim to a played household via Create A Sim by going from Manage Worlds will now allow you to modify their face and body.

·Lots with scaled objects (via the shift + [,] cheat) that are shared to the Gallery will now remember their enlarged state for others to enjoy.

Gallery Issues:·Fixed an issue where the game would become non-responsive when attempting to save a lot to the your library.

SimGuruZephyr has recently shared a new blog post talking about the familiar faces of Willows Creek.

Last month we told you a little bit about the families of Oasis Springs, and now let’s take a look at the families of Willow Creek.

Back in May, we had our first look at the Goths, one of the most well-known couples residing in Willow Creek. Since learning that Mortimer and Bella have returned, many of you have been curious about the fate of their children, Cassandra and Alexander. We all know that our teenage years can be an awkward time, but Cassandra, is a stunner and has obviously followed in her Mother’s genetic footsteps! Let’s not forget about little Alexander; will the youngest child in the family have time to overcome his eerie heritage and live a normal life or will he be another macabre member of the family?

Despite the Goth Family’s fame, the couple with the most buzz has been Bob and Eliza Pancakes. A new couple to The Sims, it looks like they may be the most miserable couple in all of Willow Creek! As you get to know the Pancakes you will have a chance to explore just what’s keeping these two together? Eliza will have plenty of chances to drift away, whether she stays in Willow Creek or wanders over to Oasis Springs. Who knows, Bob might just be happier left alone with his pancake griddle.

Let’s not forget Willow Creek’s love triangle. Free spirit Liberty Lee, cheerful Summer Holiday, and geeky Travis Scott make a pretty unlikely group of friends. At first, it seems like nothing can come between the bond that these three share. Will anyone be happy when this love triangle finally resolves itself?

Now on to one of our favorite and most complicated families, the Spencer-Kim-Lewis household. Keep in mind that with the new emotions that Sims exhibit in The Sims 4, relationships are more complex to manage – and the larger the family, the more challenge there is to be had. Here’s the breakdown: Dennis Kim and Lydia Spencer had a daughter named Alice Spencer-Kim, then they divorced. Their daughter Alice married Eric Lewis and they had their own little girl named Olivia Spencer-Kim-Lewis. Alice, Eric and little Olivia recently moved back in with their parents; Alice’s dad and Eric’s mom. Oh and Vivian Lewis came along too. How can Alice and Eric afford all the new additions to their household? They will definitely have to find the right career! Can they turn around some quick cash before their savings run out or will they find themselves stumbling around once their power gets cut? Hey, no one ever said having a family was easy and with this many mouths to feed, this family definitely isn’t!

We hope these tales of domestic bliss and turmoil have got you excited to jump in to the lives and stories of Willow Creek! We have no doubt you’re already creating intricate plans for these couples and families.Good luck and happy Simming!